Sen. Robert Menendez, who is leading the Democrats' campaign to retain control of the U.S. Senate, this morning said Republicans are only jeopardizing their political chances by trying to score political points from the controversy surrounding the proposed construction of a mosque near the Manhattan site of the 9/11 terror attacks.

"There is a price to be paid," Menendez (D-N.J.) said in an interview after a news conference in Garfield. "When I think of the Constitution and the oath I took, it is to support Jew and Gentile, Protestant and Catholic, Muslim and Christian. It doesn't have a limitation to it. I think it's incredibly dangerous for them to move down this path and it undermines a lot of their other arguments about the Constitution and the preservation of the Constitution and the importance of the Constitution and all of the rights that are derived from it. If they constantly talk about the motto of 'let's save our Constitution,' well here we go let's save it."

Not up for "saving the Constitution"? Democrat Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Hey Harry-- if you just got reelected 18 months ago, would you have this same position? Or would it be more like not-up-this-year Menendez'?